Interest in golf vacations is surging right now.
A recent survey revealed that 82% of golfers plan to take at least one golf-focused trip sometime in 2022. That number last year was 66%.
Tee sheets are filling up and hotels are selling out in all the golf hot spots, and if you're not on board, you might be playing catch-up.
Luckily, there are still plenty of options, including two dozen golf courses the PGA Tour will have visited by the time the 2021-22 season wraps in August.
From reasonably-priced venues like TPC Deere Run and TPC Louisiana to bucket-list resort standouts like Pebble Beach and TPC Sawgrass, the foremost golf tour in the world crisscrosses the U.S., stopping in at some of the best golf destinations the country has to offer.
This is no coincidence, of course. By hosting the PGA Tour, these resorts gain invaluable exposure to golfers like you, so that when the time comes to book your next golf vacation, you'll be wanting to play where the pros play.
The GolfPass Travel team has relationships with several of these excellent courses and their associated resorts and destinations, which enables them to arrange golf vacations that suit the needs of groups as small as two golfers and as large as 100. I took a look through the packages they offer and here are 10 PGA Tour-focused offers you might consider as you lay out your upcoming travels.
I've marked the resorts where I've stayed and played with ***, while adding a few insider tips that should help plan your schedule while on property.
(NOTE: The "starting from" prices mentioned are just that: baseline rates. They often assume double-occupancy rooms and may represent off- or shoulder-season pricing. Feel free to reach out to our travel team for more information. Starred resorts are ones where I have first-hand stay/play experience.)
TPC Sawgrass/Sawgrass Marriott - Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
The home of The Players Championship is a pilgrimage site for golfers who long to play where the pros have made decades of history. The Players Stadium course is the obvious draw, but the Dye's Valley course has its own appeal, having hosted the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in the past.
Package details: 2 nights' accommodations, a round on each golf course, starting from $487 per person, per night.
Pebble Beach Resorts - Pebble Beach, Calif.
Few places in golf need less of an introduction throughout the wider world than Pebble Beach. The combination of beauty and history of the newly-christened U.S. Open "anchor site" are unparalleled.
Package details: 3 nights' accommodations at The Lodge at Pebble Beach, 4 rounds of golf - one each at Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill, Pasatiempo and Bayonet - starting from $1,037 per person, per night.
*** Sea Island - St. Simons Island, Ga.
It may not be as vast as some, but Sea Island's golf DNA is as deep as any destination on the east coast, thanks to the cadre of professional golfers who live there and its namesake resort. Ever since 'Sea Island Mafia' don Davis Love III's team overhauled the Plantation Course in 2019, the place has had not one but two high-tier courses to enjoy, and the more low-key Retreat is enjoyable as well.
Package details: 3 nights' accommodations at The Inn at Sea Island, a round of golf at each course, Avis full-size rental car and daily breakfast buffet for each golfer, starting from $337 per person, per night
Take it from someone who's been there:
- Any trip to St. Simons that doesn't include lunch at legendary BBQ joint Southern Soul is a massive missed opportunity.
- The showers in the Men's Locker Room are the most gloriously, wastefully luxurious I've encountered at any resort or publicly-accessible golf facility. And the sweet tea served at the bar there is heavenly.
Kapalua Resort - Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii
After a 2019 renovation by original architects Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw, the Plantation Course has never looked better. This package also grants golfers access to King Kamehameha Golf Club, which is otherwise private.
Package details: 4 nights' accommodations at The Ritz- Carlton, Kapalua, 3 rounds of golf - one each at the Plantation Course, Kapalua's Bay Course and King Kamehameha Golf Club - and an Avis full-size rental car, starting from $577 per person, per night.
Silverado Resort & Spa - Napa, Calif.
The host of the PGA Tour's season-opening Fortinet Championship is home to two pleasant parkland layouts in the heart of Wine Country, with the North being the course the pros play every September.
Package details: 3 nights' accommodations, two rounds of golf - one at each course - and an Avis full-size rental car, starting from $277 per person, per night.
PGA WEST/La Quinta Resort & Club - La Quinta, Calif.
The Stadium and Nicklaus Tournament courses share hosting duties for The American Express, with the former being one of Pete Dye's most famous - and diabolical - designs.
Package details: 4 nights' accommodations, four rounds of golf - one each at PGA West's Stadium and Nicklaus courses and one each at Indian Wells Golf Resort's Celebrity and Players courses - and an Avis full-size rental car starting from $177 per person, per night.
*** Innisbrook, a Salamander Golf & Spa Resort - Palm Harbor, Fla.
Innisbrook's four courses include the Copperhead, which is one of the PGA Tour's more testing layouts due to its narrow fairways, significant (by Florida standards, anyway) elevation changes and pitched greens. The other three courses here are decent, but the Copperhead is the main draw. Also of note: most of the resort's accommodations have been renovated in the last couple of years.
Package details: 4 nights' accommodations, a round at each course - Copperhead, Island, North, South - and an Avis full-size rental car, from $247 per person, per night.
Take it from someone who's been there:
- Nearby Tarpon Springs is home to a collection of great Greek restaurants unparalleld anywhere in the United States outside of Astoria, Queens, N.Y.
- Innisbrook's North Course is slated to be cut down into a new 12-hole short course in the coming years.
*** Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Club & Lodge - Orlando, Fla.
The golf course at Bay Hill is historic and it's fun to tackle the last three holes, where so many notable moments have happened, but I actually like the front nine better here, and the lodge is one of my favorite places to stay in all my travels. It is a cozy, quiet oasis from the chaos most golfers rightly associate with Orlando.
Package details: a night's accommodations, a round of golf and Avis full-size rental car, from $197 per person, per night.
Take it from someone who's been there:
- Bay Hill's short-game practice facility is outstanding. Take advantage of the thoughtfully-arranged greens, bunkers and expanse of short grass to help you polish up your wedges.
- The locker room is worth hanging out in for a beer before or after your round...or both.
TPC San Antonio/JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa - San Antonio, Texas
The Oaks Course here hosts the PGA Tour's Valero Texas Open, but the Canyons Course, a Pete Dye design, has also gotten in on the pro golf hosting party, having welcomed the PGA Tour Champions in past years. JW Marriott is a reliably upscale, large-format resort that is friendly to buddy groups and families aike.
Package details: 3 nights' accommodations, a round of golf at each course, Avis full-size rental car, starting from $297 per person, per night.
***The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Orlando - Orlando, Fla.
While not technically a PGA Tour host venue, this Greg Norman design has gotten massive amounts of attention each of the last two Decembers thanks to Tiger Woods teaming up with his son Charlie in the PNC Championship here.
Package details: a night's accommodations, a round of golf and an Avis full-size rental car, starting from $287 per person, per night.
Take it from someone who's been there:
- As you might expect from the name, Highball & Harvest, the Ritz-Carlton's nouveau-Southern restaurant, is an excellent place for a cocktail.
- The golf course is solid, but don't expect the sort of visual fireworks you might see at other Orlando courses. This one is very subtle in its shaping.
